FUNDED RESEARCH COMPLETED   

1. Prevalence of And Pregnancy Outcome in Singleton Mothers with Anaemia: A Survey Carried Out in Port Harcourt, South-South Nigeria. Research funded by the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital. A prospective study to determine the prevalence of anaemia in pregnancy and the outcome of pregnancy complicated by maternal anaemia with regards to gestational age at delivery, fetal birth weight and APGAR scores. Principal Investigator. 2006 to 2008
2. The Pilot implementation of the West African Health Organisation’s Demonstration Project at Gokana LGA, Rivers State Nigeria. The Demonstration Project aims to decrease maternal and perinatal mortality through the improvement of access to care in general and in particular to skilled attendance at delivery. Research Officer. 2008 to 2009
3. The UPTH WHO Safe Childbirth Checklist SCC Collaboration. The WHO recently established the Safe Childbirth Checklist Collaboration to build synergies in learning about the adaptation, implementation and integration of the Safe Childbirth Checklist into clinical practice. The SCC is a tool that has been shown to reduce maternal and newborn deaths in pilot studies and its usability is being tested worldwide; UPTH is one of the centres. Principal Investigator. 2014 to 2015
4. Piloting an Intervention to Increase Access to Youth Friendly Services in Andoni LGA, Rivers State, Nigeria – a strategy to address the reproductive health needs of vulnerable, out-of-school young women in oil-producing communities in Rivers State, Nigeria. In furtherance of the aim to improve the health needs of adolescents/youths in Rivers State, the Medical Women Association of Nigeria (MWAN), Rivers State branch is piloting the implementation of Youth Friendly Health Services into existing Primary Health Care Centres in two hard-to-reach communities in Andoni LGA. This is in collaborating with the Rivers State Primary Healthcare Management Board and funded by the Ford Foundation. The Program seeks to provide enabling environment for adolescents and youths in the selected sites (Ataba &Unyeada) to access health services that will meet their needs. Principal Investigator. 2014 – 2016
5. The prevention of violence against women and girls in Rivers State. The Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Programme (NSRP), with funding from the British Council, supported the establishment of virtual safe spaces in the form of observatories as a repository of information on Violence against Women and Girls in 8 states, including Rivers State, most affected by violent conflict. 25 stakeholders were identified and trained as members of the observatory steering committee (OBSTEC). Reporting of VAWG was initiated, the format for reporting cases of VAWG produced, and shared to all stakeholders. 635 incidences were reported between 2015 and 2017. Of these, 587 were referred and responded to by the OBSTEC. Multi stakeholder engagement and strategic implementation of agreed processes has the potential to improve reporting, referral, and response to cases of VAWG. Co-Investigator. 2015- 2017.
6. Increasing Access to Youth Friendly Services in Tertiary Institutions in Rivers State. A project aimed at building the capacity of health facilities staff in tertiary institutions, advocacy to heads of tertiary institutions and creating demand amongst youths for youth friendly health services to reduce reproductive health challenges. Implemented in Rivers State. Ford Foundation Tertiary Institution grant 2017
7. Safer Anaesthesia From Education (SAFE) Obstetric Anaesthesia Workshop; funded by the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesia in conjuction with the College of Health Sciences; University of Port Harcourt, to implement training of obstetric anaesthesia providers. The SAFE Obstetric Anaesthesia Course is a 3day course in obstetric anesthesia for anesthesia providers in low or low-middle income countries. As part of the activities of the College of Health Sciences of the University of Port Harcourt to train professionals at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels for the health sector in Nigeria; We applied to the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland AAGBI and World Federation of Societies of Anaesthetists (WFSA) for a grant to improve maternal health. The 3-day intensive training on obstetric anaesthesia was carried out in March 2018.

Ogu R, Mato C.  Co-coordinators WFSA grant 2018

FUNDED RESEARCH IN PROGRESS

1. Assessing the impact of an Intervention to Improve The Quality of Emergency Obstetric Care on Maternal and Perinatal Outcomes in Nigeria. A world Health Organisation funded research intended to determine the barriers to effective implementation of evidence-based protocols in Nigeria and develop appropriate intervention strategies. Funding was from the World Health Organization: Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research. Grant / Award number A65869. Co-Investigator & Secretary of the team.  2014 to 2020
2. Increasing Women’s Access to Skilled Pregnancy Care to Reduce Maternal and Perinatal Mortality in Nigeria. This is one of the 20 Implementation Research Team Proposals being funded by the Innovating for Maternal and Child Health in Africa Program; a 7-year, $36 million program funded by Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada (DFATD), Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). It will see leading Canadian researchers collaborating with us and officials of the Federal Ministry of Health to identify the demand and supply factors that prevent women from using Primary Healthcare Centres for maternal and early newborn care in Nigeria, and to test innovative and community relevant interventions for improving women’s access to PHC services, and thus, ultimately, to prevent maternal and perinatal deaths. Co-Investigator. 2015 to 2020.
3. Improving Maternal Health in sub-Saharan Africa. To improve maternal health and ensure women’s access to quality healthcare, health-provider’s compliance with best practices is essential. Nigeria is a significant contributor to the high rates of maternal/perinatal mortality in the world. Poor quality of care is a key factor. As part of efforts to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality, the World Health Organisation developed the Safe Childbirth Checklist (SCC). MWAN is supported by Pfizer through an independent learning grant over 12 months to promote the use of the checklist in Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia and Cameroon through the creation of champions during symposia, media and public health awareness creation and coaching. Supported by Pfizer, this project runs for 24 months. Principal Investigator. Pfizer grant 2017-2018
4. Gestational-Diabetes Mellitus Control Program in Niger-Delta. A 3-year program funded by the world Diabetes Foundation to implement access and advocacy interventions in 42 communities in Rivers State to promote diabetes prevention and improve GDM outcomes among rural and urban poor women. Following training and the use of appropriate protocols and tools, the health-care provider and community mobilization team educate mothers, children, women and men about the risks of certain nutritional and environmental exposures and incorporate health promotion. Universal screening for GDM in 20,000 pregnant women using the single step 75 gram OGTT procedure, fasting or random blood sugar adopted by IASDPG, ADA, WHO, IDF and FIGO, is implemented at all levels of care at the time of first contact in the antenatal clinic. Pre-referral care capacity of private and public HCPs for primary and secondary health facilities to appropriately screen, diagnose and refer to tertiary health care providers is implemented. At the tertiary level, training of specialist health care providers foster synergy among multi-disciplinary team of specialist who provide care for GDM patients. Trained health personnel are routinely monitored and provided supervisory support to ensure that the skills acquired and knowledge gained is appropriately utilized and expended and passed on to medical students and resident doctors. Principal Investigator WDF Grant 2017- 2020